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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 22:00:31 GMT -5
❉ Briarsong ❉
she-cat >>> RainClan warrior >>> sixteen moons It should have been easy. But her lungs were refusing to work, and her traitorous heart only beat faster with every attempt she made to slow it. Like a rabbit who knew it's death was only seconds away her heart was beating wildly. She could feel it in her ears, in her paws and teeth, so loud that she hardly processed the willows around her.
The clan was splitting--had split--and there was nothing she could do about it. Maybe it shouldn't scare her as much as it did, but she couldn't change the feeling in her gut that whatever was happening, or going to happen, would be terrible. Blood had already been spilt, RainClan's water already tinged with red.
Briarsong paused for a moment, closed her eyes and counted each breath in long slow beats... one, two, three... one, two, three... one, two, three... before opening her eyes and taking in the scene around her fully for once. The willows were gorgeously highlighted by the moonlight, long boughs trailing in the river in a way that just beckoned her to go and bat at them like a kitten would. They caused ripples to slide down the glassy surface of the river, calm and quiet. It was one of the reasons she had slunk out to this place.
She hadn't wanted to be in the camp at the moment. Too many cats were there, too many voices all trying to be heard. But out here, the only voices she could hear were those of the wind in the willows and the river over the rocks. The water would be cold, it was leaf-fall and night afterall, but she decided to slide into its darkness anyways.
For a second it was shocking, the transition from air to water, but then it was comforting and familiar. Ducking her head under the water she could almost feel it washing away her worries like so much dust stuck to her pelt.
Her black fur blended well with the black water, and only her green eyes shone as she paddled towards a still but deeper spot. Rightfully she should have been sleeping, but it hadn't wanted anything to do with her. Her mind had been too active, jumping from thing to thing in a hurried frenzy that she bet was going to drive her absolutely batty one day.
But the water--the water was familiar.
Smooths strokes of her paws brought her back to the pebbly shore, where she stood in the shallows with the water lapping at her paws softly. Briarsong didn't even bother to shake the water from her pelt, just standing there and letting it slide it's way off.
She felt safe in her choice to stay with Timberstar's side of things, but she didn't exactly feel entirely happy with it either. Briarsong didn't think more blood would fix the clan or purify it, but she wasn't entirely too thrilled about mixed clan blood. It could divide loyalties. It was now, just not in the way she would have expected.
With the willows and river around her she could almost forget the clan had split--almost being key.
❉ word count >>> 523 >>> notes >>> very temporary template ❉
10 > 1 > 16
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Post by Fawn on Oct 1, 2016 22:45:54 GMT -5
42 Moons | RainClan | Tom | Senior Warrior The Clan was in disarray. The days felt long and perilous. The ruddy warrior was now keeping his senses on full alert every time he left the safety of the RainClan camp; not just for his own sake, but for the possibility of finding another dead Clanmate washed up against the riverbank. The very idea turned his stomach to bile, but if there wasn't a possibility this would happen again, he would have been able to sleep more peacefully each night.
Russethawk wasn't the only cat with trouble sleeping. After noticing the empty nest of his cousin's daughter, Minnowpaw, cool and empty, he quickly tracked her down just before she could swim across the camp stream, padding off to go take a walk. Russethawk didn't blame her desire to get out of camp; after Vultureback's death and the nasty encounter with Leopardyowl—the cat's name made his lip curl in disgust and betrayal—it was no wonder Minnowpaw couldn't sleep.
Walking step by step with the pale-furred warrior, he both kept up pace as a friendly face in times when friends seemed hard to find, and as a protective guardian to his late mentor's daughter. "Have you talked to Pikepaw recently?" Russethawk mewed, curious to see how the relationship between the siblings was going. Their brisk nighttime walk carried them in the direction of the willow stream, and his thoughts briefly turned fondly upon Lilystream, until, with a small shake of his head, he corrected himself. Those days are over. Let her go, Russethawk. Let her go.
Easier said than done.
A shadow in the stream made Russethawk freeze where he stood, pelt bristling along his spine as he saw subtle movement in the water that could not possibly be a fish. Not again! With a burst of speed, the ruddy warrior bounded over to the stream's edge, his heart in his throat as he approached what could've been another fallen Clanmate. The realization that he didn't smell blood, and that two green eyes were staring back at him, struck the tom just as his front paws touched the edge of the water. He let out a relieved huff of air. "Briarsong! StarClan, I thought something had happened."
Russethawk had been, along with Jaycry and Rushwhisker, one of the three who had found Vultureback's body. The memory of his fallen Clanmate in the water was still painfully fresh in his mind.
"It's okay," he mewed sheepishly to Minnowpaw, waving his fluffy red tail to calm her. "I overreacted."
Notes:
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Conquer the monster in your head, and then you'll fly |
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GaleClan Medicine Cat
INVENTORY
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Post by BlooRey DVD on Oct 1, 2016 23:10:03 GMT -5
~~~~~~~~
Somehow, Russethawk had found her before she'd made it too far out of the camp. Unable to sleep for another consecutive day since Vultureback's death, Minnowpaw could only think of getting out, doing something to ease her mind as it sprinted at a million miles an hour. Though he hadn't outwardly asked her what she was doing, the fawn colored apprentice offered him a sheepish smile, almost as though apologizing for having planned to leave camp at all. Much to her relief, her father's former apprentice didn't ask her to turn back and return to her nest like she feared he might.
Instead, he fell into step with her. Padding quietly beside the larger tom, she felt a little safer than she had previously. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to head out on her own, especially with what had happened to Vultureback. She should have thought further ahead. His question had her glancing toward him, a soft frown coating her features as she sighed quietly. "I have... Spoken to him only in passing recently... He's... Busy?" She offered, knowing that that was a little bit of a lie. Truthfully, her brother didn't approve of the tom she'd found herself spending time with in recent days.
Praying that the senior warrior didn't pick up on her little white lie, Minnowpaw glanced forward just as Russethawk seemed to do the same. When her brother's mentor froze, his eyes fixed on a spot in the river just ahead, Minnowpaw felt fear rear it's ugly muzzle deep in her chest. Her lungs seemed to stop functioning, claws digging into the ground below. Russethawk was the first of the pair to react, darting forward with the same urgency she could feel bubbling up into her own paws. It took a pawful of heartbeats for her to barrel off after him.
She skid to a halt at his side just as he turned to wave his tail reassuringly to her. Pretty much slumping to the ground, Minnowpaw let relief wash over her. "I guess... I did too." She panted between breaths, smiling timidly before shaking her head. Slowly, her greenish gaze drifted to the black she-cat standing in the stream before them. Pulling herself upright again, Minnowpaw waved her tail in a greeting. Recognizing the she-cat as one who had spent several moons in the apprentice den along side her (and who had moved out before her), Minnowpaw figured it made sense to be friendly.
"Hi, Briarsong." She mewed pleasantly.
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Fawn @bluebird Note: 18 moons old.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 1, 2016 23:48:46 GMT -5
❉ Briarsong ❉
she-cat >>> RainClan warrior >>> sixteen moons
Before she could recognize the large tom bounding at her, Briarsong had already puffed her fur up out of instinct. Thoughts slammed into her mind, of being attacked, of having to fight former clanmates, of so many things she didn't want. Of so many things that were frighteningly possibly. Her claws were scraping the rocks of the river below her, soaking hackles spiked and pathetically short, when she recognized the ruddy tom as Russethawk. And then a minute later she recognized Minnowpaw. They'd been apprentices at the same time, it made her feel a tinge of pity for the older she-cat.
Then again, the only reason she'd really graduated so early was the fact that her mentor had wanted to get rid of her after only a couple moons. That tended to speed up the process of things.
"Briarsong! StarClan, I thought something had happened."
"I guess... I did too."
And oh she knew it was a fox-hearted thing to say even as it was falling from her mouth, "Well I'm not exactly dead, now am I?"
She hadn't been there to pull the body from the water--bodies actually. It was a cruel jab, delivered in her usual dry and sarcastic manner. But she couldn't, just couldn't, face it without some sort of defense. It being clanmates actively hunting down cats from their own clan. She couldn't apologize though--not without words or emotions she wouldn't want sliding out showing up. No, it was best to create a barrier and hide behind it. Protect herself from dealing with it.
Rolling her shoulder she was suddenly hyper aware of her raised hackles and puffed tail. The water logged nature of her pelt weighed it down some but not enough to make her feel comfortable. Her green gaze was sharp and level as she stepped out of the river, as if daring either of the two to say something about it.
Outwardly she brought one paw up and cleaned the sand from her claws with gentle laps of her tongue. Inwardly she was once again faced with the task of slowing her beating heart, the calm from the swim effectively shattered... not that she blames her clanmates for that. They cared--that was more than could be said for most cats these days.
Realizing that she had never returned Minnowpaw's tail wave she did so now in a casual and small movement of her tail. The presence of the two of them somehow made Briarsong feel safer, even if she hadn't been in any real danger to begin with.
She stared for a second, realizing that her gaze was probably coming across as harsh and cold, but did nothing to soften it.
"So, you two have any particular reason for being out here?" her tone took a bit more of a sarcastic tinge as she continued, "or do you just enjoy surprising clanmates enjoying a nice night swim."
And maybe her words were too sharp, but Starclan she was so lost in this sea of bizarre occurrences. Never as a kit would she have believed that the clan would split.
❉ word count >>> 526 ❉
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Post by Fawn on Oct 2, 2016 17:18:40 GMT -5
42 Moons | RainClan | Tom | Senior Warrior His relief at seeing Briarsong alive was dampened by her tactless retort; she was too smart to know that her words wouldn't sting. Russethawk's eyes narrowed. "We're glad you're not dead, even if you have a tongue like a snake." The warrior's reply was curt and a little cold, his thoughts regrouping as the two she-cats were at least friendly with one another.
It's not her fault. She's young, and sarcastic, and probably scared. A lot like another young tom who was on his mind a lot lately. Vowing to do a little better when it came to conversation, Russethawk shook his head as though to clear it of any lingering cobwebs. "We're out for a walk, that's all. Would you like to join us? We're safer as a group than by ourselves."
So many places to sneak up on each other here... Russethawk hated this. He hated the suspicious feelings he went to sleep with, knowing they would still be there in the morning each time he left the camp; RainClan was destroying itself with all of this death and dishonesty. Did the Code not matter anymore? Did the fact that they were all Clanmates not matter any more?
To know that even the smallest stirrings in the shadows meant trouble, to have to tense up every time he saw a warrior or their apprentice in RainClan territory, wondering which side they were on... It was heartbreaking, and Russethawk didn't know how to fix it. This has to stop. With Leopardyowl's capture, hopefully it would.
Conscious of Minnowpaw still nearby, Russethawk moved over and gave his cousin's kit a tiny lick on the ear, smiling a bit. "We might as well renew the scent markings at the stone stream." He beckoned Briarsong to join them with his tail. "Unless you'd like to be by yourself." Though his green eyes were glittering and friendlier than they had been, there was no subtle amount of implication that she'd be better off coming with them.
Briarsong was pureblooded, as far as he knew, but... Was it wrong that he still didn't feel as if the Clan was any safer? Even with Leopardyowl under close guard back at camp.
Notes:
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Conquer the monster in your head, and then you'll fly |
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GaleClan Medicine Cat
INVENTORY
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Post by BlooRey DVD on Oct 4, 2016 19:53:00 GMT -5
~~~~~~~~
Her soft ears flashed backward against her skull as Briarsong's flat-toned words registered. Off-green eyes fell to the ground awkwardly, not wanting to meet the other she-cat's gaze while Russethawk scolded her. When she did dare glance up, she was greeted with the slightest movement of Briarisong's tail. Despite the sharpness of the other sh-cat's gaze, that little wave seemed to bring hope to the apprentice. Visibly relaxing, Minnowpaw listened intently as the black she-cat spoke again. Though Minnowpaw answered, it was barely above a whisper and mostly intended for herself anyway. "I couldn't sleep..." She doubted either cat heard her, and she didn't really mind.
Then Russethawk seemed to come up with an idea to make themselves useful. Her ears flicked curiously, her gentle gaze meeting the senior warrior's as she smiled brightly. The slightest inclination of her muzzle indicated to him that she was more than happy to follow him; as long as she didn't have to lay there, tossing and turning in her nest pretending she could get to sleep without the constant nightmares haunting her just out of sight. The tom extended the invitation to their black furred companion, pulling Minnowpaw's attention back toward the she-cat.
Tilting her head curiously, the fawn-colored apprentice awaited some sort of acceptance or rejection to the offer. When their eyes met, Minnowpaw offered the black warrior a kind smile. Even if they had never spent an extended amount of time together, even if they couldn't traditionally be called friends... Minnowpaw was still interested in spending time with Briarsong. Of course, if Briarsong preferred not to associate with she-cats as average as Minnowpaw was, the RainClan apprentice wouldn't mind. She could understand; there were so many interesting cats in RainClan. Not many would bother sparing her a passing glance.
Still.. I hope you come. She thought silently. |
Fawn @bluebird
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